Thill-coupling



(No ModeL) O. E. GILLESPIE.

THILL COUPLING.

No. 368,202. Patented Aug. 16, 1887.

um I mmugu h 1m uh lllllm Wane/15's e/s Z n/VQW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CYRUS E. GILLESPIE, OF EDlVARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS.

THlLL-COUPLING.

.SPECIFIC'ATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,202, dated August 16, 1887.

Application filed November 5, 1886. Serial No. 218,112.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ovens E. GrLLnsrin, of Edwardsville, Illinois, have made a new and useful Improvement in Thill-Couplings,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

To provideacomparatively economical construction whereby the pole or shafts of a carriage can be readily attached, detached, and when in use so held as to prevent rattling even when the parts of the coupling have become worn, is the aim of this improvement, which consists in the means hereinafter described and claimed, and whose most desirable form is exhibited in the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a side elevation of the improved thills. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the improved coupling. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the coupling. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3. The last four views are upon an enlarged scale.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

The thill A, the axle B, and the axle clip 0 are of the customary form, it not being necessary to modify them for the purposes of the improvement. The thill-iron D, which is suitably secured at a to the thill, differs from the ordinary thill-eye in being made open to form a hook, d, which is adapted to engage with and draw upon the bolt or rivet c of the clip 0, substantially as shown in Figs. 2, 5.

E represents a spring detachably inserted between the hook (Z and the body a of the clip. It serves to prevent the parts of the coupling from rattling, and the thill-hook from being displaced. The spring is shaped as follows: A flat strip of steel or other elastic metal is folded at e, forming what may be termed the front part, c, and the back part, c", of the spring. The part c at its upper end is shaped to form a flange, c, which extends forward and bears against the upper end of the part 6, which in turn is crimped at a to receive the flange, and thereby better keep it in place against the part c as the two parts 6 0 work upon each other when the spring is used. The front, 0, of the spring is shaped at e to fit the back of the (No model.)

thill-hoolgand the back part, 0 ofthe spring is shaped at e" to fit the clip-body 0. Below the level ofthe partslast named the lower portion of the spring inclines somewhat forward, and its extreme lower end is preferably inclined still farther forward, all substantially as is shown in Figs. 2, 5.

The principal object of the inclinations referred to is to enable its lower end, as the spring is inserted in its place, to pass the plate 0' of the clip. An offset, 6 can also thereby be formed, which, coming above the plate 0 may serve to better secure the spring from dropping through the opening in the clip. The spring, however, is prevented from falling from its place rather by reason of its upper end being larger than the space between the thill-hook and clip-body.

\Vhen it is desired to detach the thills,their forward ends are dropped, as when not in use, and the spring is driven upward out of its place, whereupon the thills can be detached from the clips.

A modification of the construction is forming the thill and thill-hook to be passed upward from beneath into the clip in place of downward from above thereinto, in which case the spring is inserted and removed as before, and the thills are detached by turning them upward. This form of spring is useful in combination with the ordinary tl1ill-cye,the spring being driven downward to insert it in the rear of the thill-eye, and upward to detach it, just as when it is used with the thill-hook above described. The spring in efiect is a species of elliptic spring, it being in use supported and pressed at a point between its ends. A further modification of the spring is making the flange 6 upon the front part of the springand to bear in a crimp in the back part of the Spring.

F represents a guard attached, substantially as shown in Figs. 3, 5, to the thill or thilliron, to prevent the accidental displacement upward of the spring E. It is in effect ashoulder which, when the thills are in use, comes above the spring,so that the latter cannot rise.

I claim 1. The spring E, folded at e, flanged at c crimped at e, to receive the fl.ange,shaped at 0 to receive the back of the thin-hook, hav 3. Athill having the guard F, as and for the ing its back 0 shaped as described, and offset purpose of confining a spring held in the axleat a, substantially as and for the purposes clip in the rear of the thil1-ir0n,as described. IO

herein set f0rtl1. CYRUS E. GILLESPIE. 5 2. Thecombination of the thill, the thill- WVitnesses:

hook, the guard, the axle-clip, and'the spring, E. WV. FIEGENBAUM,

substantially as described. CHAS. A. GAISER. 

